Martial Arts -A Spiritual Journey
A true martial art journey is a spiritual one. Through your training and under the guidance of your Master you are forced to ask yourself many inner questions. Questions which most people never ask themselves. Have I an ego? Did I treat that person with respect? How do I better myself? Am I compassionate enough? Do I give enough time to others? These are questions that through your martial art you can find out the answers.
Knowing these answers means that you truely know yourself. People can spend a lifetime and a lot of money "finding themselves" when sometimes the answers are there all along, you just need someone to guide you to them. THis is one reason why the relationship with your Master is such an important special one. It is built on utter respect, trust and loyalty and is extremely rare in everyday life. They want to help you find the answers to these questions and to be content within yourself.
True contentment equals inner peace and happiness, something all humans strive for. Once we find this in ourselves we can then concentrate on helping others find theirs. Who knew that all of this came from wanting to learn to kick and punch.
This is why your martial arts journey will last a lifetime. New questions will arise and answers may change as we ourselves change. Listen to your Master they will guide you. If in doubt listen harder. They will tell you the truth always and be your rock. This loyalty can never be repaid, nor do they want it to be repaid. They simply want you to do the same for others. This is true martial art.